To spend £600 every time my daughter goes up a clothes size?

[ivebeentotheyear3000]

Every time my daughter goes up a clothes size I end up spending about £600. DH thinks this is a ridiculous amount to spend but I don't really see how I could do it for much cheaper!? I buy from a variety of places but generally Asda, H&M, Tu, Matslan - nowhere really expensive.

Vests £10
Knickers £10
Socks £10
Tights £20
Jeans £30
Leggings £20
Shorts £20
Short sleeved tops £25
Long sleeved tops £25
Dresses £50
Fleece £15
Hoodie £15
Tracksuit £20
Winter coat £25
Summer waterproof £15
Pyjamas £40
Ballet uniform £75
School uniform £75
Trainers, shoes, wellies, sandals, slippers £100
Swimsuit £10

AIBU? How much do others spend and if less, how do you save money?

Oh and if you're going to buy new and buy ahead like that then plan ahead and get it in the sales

We are lucky enough to have hand me downs so buy barely anything. Maybe try charity shops or cheaper places like primark?

Interesting to read the different approaches to clothes buying. One advantage of buying all at once I guess is that you do know exactly what you’ve spent for the year! I buy as needed and therefore don’t have a good estimate of yearly spends, though since Sept last year 2 pairs school shoes at £50 each adds up quickly! First school shoes barely lasted a term and they’re one thing I won’t economise on. If you are buying what I’d call mid-priced new stuff (eg M&S, Next rather than Boden) I can easily see this adding up to your total. I think you could probably reduce it by 1/3 to 1/2 by shopping second hand (there are some great Boden selling Facebook groups) and by buying as big a size as you can get away with initially. Eg my DDs school coat a size bigger but works fine and we will hopefully get 2 winters out of it vs 1. I also highly recommend Polarn o’pyret PJs which have fold down cuffs to extend the wear. First had a 18-24 month pair second hand for DD which she ended up wearing until she was 3!
Where do you shop to get everything you need at once? DD needs a new swimming cossie but there’s barely any choice at this time of year so we are waiting!

I buy the winter coats in the spring sale. I get everything 1 size too big and then it lasts for 2 years. We hand everything on to a friend who has a younger daughter and in turn she hands everything on from her boys for our son. We each save loads except for shoes and school uniform. School uniform I get mostly second hand. To buy school uniform all new for us would be £600 alone.

I don't think everything needs replacing at once. It's not like as soon as she's outgrown a jumper, she's outgrown all her knickers and trousers. I replace things as I need to for my kids or if I see something I like for them I will get it and just judge what size they need.

Here we just replace bits and bobs as they’re outgrown. And DD clings to favourite outfits so will wear the same things to death even when they’re too small.

We’ll buy ahead though, so winter coat for future years bought in the January sales, a couple of sizes up so it lasts 2-3 winters: 1 too big, 1 just right, 1 getting snug. The Goldilocks approach!

And a lot of hand-me-downs/swaps with cousins and friends. I will do a big shop of everything if she outgrows lots at once, but never across multiple seasons, always in the sale, and more like £100 at once. £600 is insane but if you can afford it and it suits you, why not I guess.

It is really unusual to buy it all in one go. I have 3 DC and have never spent above about £200 in a clothes shopping session, and I've only done that when they've needed shoes.

I buy a couple of pairs of trousers or a couple of tops at a time. I buy coats to last 2 wiinters, loads of pants and socks and nightwear bulk out their Christmas sack, they get really nice hoodies in their Christmas and birthday presents.

Do you buy winter and summer clothes at the time? I can't imagine spending £600 on DCs clothes.

I have a 'next size up' box for both children and add to it during the year by picking things up in the sales, buying from Vinted and also buying a few full price items that I know they'd love. When they're ready for them I don't have to go out and spend a lot in one go on a new, full price wardrobe.

I also budget monthly and put away £50 a month for their clothes (Monzo pot), but that covers both children. Some months I spend it all, other months I barely touch it and it rolls over.

This makes me wonder if girls clothes are designed to be much more fitted than boys? My eldest is tallish but thin. At 12 he's in clothes ranging from 8 to 14. I never anticipate him going through each size iyswim? His pants are still 8. When I get him new ones I'll buy 14 and we'll have skipped two sizes. Everything starts baggy and is worn until it is stretched.

I agree with most posters. There is no need to buy all in one go and you shouldn't need to buy big ticket things like a winter coat every year. Buy it too big and wear for two or three years. The sizing of 4-5 for example indicates that it should do two years at least.

A lot depends on whether you can afford it. My mother would think nothing of popping into Next and spending £100 each on clothes for my DDs, even its not necessary.
They are 10&8 now, and like to chose things through the year, even just a t-shirt in Asda. They pass on outgrown stuff.

There was a thread the other day about childrens coats, and whether £100 was normal. A lit said that £100 total was normal, which is a significant portion of £600. Shoes add up too. My DD went up two shoes sizes in 3 months once. That was expensive...

For me the biggest problem is uniform. I get that it supposedly "levels up" but that's nonsense when I have to buy. I mean I'm literally paying to level myself up.

There's no second hand shop at our school and I'm not about to start one as I work full-time.

Buying uniform to level my kids up costs me hundreds of pounds a year and I hate it. It gets me really stressed out.

@PaleGreenGhost they definitely are designed to be slimmer fitting. Does my head in and they generally are shorter too, tops in particular I find shirt for my DD. I’d happily buy from the boys section for her but funnily enough, she doesn’t want a Minecraft t shirt, she wants one with unicorns on

I think this is an unusual approach, I tend to just get rid of individual stuff as it looks too small, underwear definitely lasts longer than the age range, coats a size up, shorts and cardigans also seem to fit forever. I actually think it’d be more economical to work on a quantity basis so the rotation works more on what actually fits than what the label says, so for example she has:

2 x jeans
2 x leggings
2 x tracksuit
3 x jumpers

Etc etc

We buy all in one go in the sense that I have a full set of clothes in the next size up ready and waiting (I shop in sales to achieve this and probably do spend £500 to £600 per child including shoes per year). My kids are all growing at approx one size a year at the moment and so around their birthdays we do a full swap of their clothes. It means I’m only sorting their clothes once a year rather than in drive and drabs. I only have to think about it once. It’s not a bad system and there is no waste as everything gets worn.
We pass all our clothes on to other children, often going through at least two more kids. Rags go to charity for recycling

Lots of stuff like pyjamas and other clothes all year round on Next clearance pages, I buy a lot of my stuff from there

I see the point about her not needing it all in one go, but I tend to buy all at once and then just get it out gradually as she outgrows that item in the size below.

How does that work with seasonal clothes? When are winter coats and shorts available in the shops at the same time? What if, say, you buy a winter coat in March and she has a growth spurt which means she's grown out of it before she needs to wear it?

How old is she?

Primark
Plus you are spending too much on PJ and jeans

@PaleGreenGhost

This makes me wonder if girls clothes are designed to be much more fitted than boys? My eldest is tallish but thin. At 12 he's in clothes ranging from 8 to 14. I never anticipate him going through each size iyswim? His pants are still 8. When I get him new ones I'll buy 14 and we'll have skipped two sizes. Everything starts baggy and is worn until it is stretched.

It is. It makes me cross.

I've two kids and I don't spend that.
I get their jeans and pj's etc in Primark
Long sleeved t shirts also

All their sweaters and knitwear from h&m (love their stuff)

Football boots ans jerseys are given as presents eg santa

We do buy decent shoes for them. Still though 600

I buy stuff as needed, and also find my kids have a range of sizes at any one time.

I have managed to get two years out of winter coats and outerwear. Same with vests/pants they are a little big when they are new and I size up when I notice they are small or done which is often after she has technically gone up more than one dress size.

Consumerism at its finest.

You love your DC and you love shopping. So you justify your choice to behave this way. But as this thread shows, there is absolutely no need to spend that money that way. You want to do you do.

As others have said, it's great to buy things in the sale when you spot them. I just bought PJs that were reduced to £3 in Debenhams, 4 pairs for next year. Altogether they cost less than the RRP for just 1 set (£16). The same with a nice Trespass ski coat for DS which was £26 in the sale.

I also love Vinted, use it a lot for buying and selling for the kids and for meeee!